Anyone here requiring Framer as a required skill for hiring? We recently decided that all new designers should either have Framer experience, or a willingness to learn. We want to have all our designers be able to design AND prototype anything they need.

We'll see how it goes ;)

19 Comments

Koen Bok

I've talked to a bunch of large companies thinking about making prototyping a required skill. The cool side effect is that the current team also improves; it's hard to interview someone for a skill you don't have.

Jake Blakeley

I wouldn't say just Framer as a required skill, since not everyone is adept at programming or the thinking behind it. However I think prototyping is a must, especially with anything product related.

Stephen Crowley

Required? No. But a designer who prototypes their work obviously would be desired.

Marc Krenn

I've recently stumbled upon this survey asking 4.000 participants - I suspect the majority of those were self-proclaimed "webdesigners" - what the tools they're using. Maybe their numbers will add something to this discussion:

I'd say required prototyping is a totally fine requirement for a designer, the tool is irrelevant.

We are not designing posters. This is interactive design so put yourself together.

Sean Walsh

Depends on the job title, role and duties. I don't look for the tool but the talent, skill and ability/desire to learn. An interaction designer should have prototyping but a UI designer not so much. At least in our company.

I wouldn't necessarily require Framer JS as a skill, but the willingness to learn should be there. What you could do is add it as part of a performance review to be learning and showing progress during there first few months.

Josh Peters

Depends if it fits your business. In the Subtraction survey Keynote(sic) was even used amongst professionals. I used Keynote at a recent gig for a startup as it would have taken me longer to ramp up on Framer or other tools. Though I look forward to expanding my skills in Framer and augmenting my needs as necessary with other tools.

Joe Hsia

Prototyping is absolutely necessary for designers, but the tools designers choose to use should be a choice and not a hard requirement that you must have experience in certain tool(s). Ultimately, you want to treat prototyping as a way to streamline communication with your engineering teams. And there is different level of prototyping for every stage of the product development process.

Justin Mariano

IMO, prototyping is great - but when dealing with a designers workload, things can get fuzzy. It can be very tough to budget out the hours required for a framer-esque seamless prototype from an already busy designer. So to make that a requirement, that may be asking a bit much, when there are always bigger fish to fry as a UX designer. Oftentimes, it can be more economical to just have a developer build a functional prototype which could then be used to layout the foundation for the actual product. Do I love prototyping with framer though? YES! It's a great tool, but unfortunately doesn't quite make it into budget unless we really need to "wow" the client. InVision tends to be the way to go for fast prototyping at my company. It's not as fun, flashy, or awesome, but it works and is extremely quick to produce with little to no chance of error. Not many UX Designers know how to code, and some of the best thinkers/most experienced folks in UX I've met or worked with have little to no coding background. I think we have a few more years of adaptation in the industry before the hybrid designer/developer becomes a job requirement. That being said, someone in that position is highly valued, but remember you're hiring a designer at the end of the day, NOT a developer. Their ability to design should influence your decision before their technical skillset. We are not technical workers, we are creatives. You wouldn't hire a plumber just because he has the newest, shiny tools would you? Well, maybe you would...but he might not be the best plumber. Just my .02. 😀

George Kedenburg III

Every incoming designer at FB takes an intro to Framer class. 👍

Arron J Hunt

George I assumed FB would be strictly Origami

George Kedenburg III

We do an Origami class too :)

Mariusz Cieśla

Why require a tool, not a skill?

Doug Kinnison

I've been pushing for this same thing. Designers that can't code in the future will be like the generation that never learned to type. Framer is a great place for beginner developers with it being so simple. However, Origami is also an amazing tool that I utilize.

Andrew Nalband

I'm going to have to agree with Mariusz Cieśla on this one. I'd much rather see an awesome prototype built using any tool than someone who's built any old prototype in Framer. Framer is an awesome tool, but hiring someone is about the value they can add to your team, not the tools they use. That said, I would never hire someone who didn't have a willingness to learn new tools. Making a Framer prototype would also be an excellent piece of hiring homework even if they'd never built anything in it.

Arron J Hunt

Awesome thoughts from everyone.

Mariusz good point. The reason we've been considering it is that it brings consistency to the team. The handoff between design and development comes with a few expectations, one being that deliverables are always in the same format. We use framer because we can play with timing a lot and developers can go in and take direct values from the code. They always know exactly what to expect. If different tools are being used by different designers, they never know if they're going to get a Framer project, Origami project, Pixate, etc.

I equate it to design tools. We're Sketch app only with my team, because we don't want to balance a bunch of design files in different formats.

It comes down to consistency and expectations. We know that any designer can open any file and start working, because we're all familiar with the same tool.